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Decision times · North West

How long planning decisions take in Preston

51 days. Ranked 46 of 343.

In the year to September 2026, the median planning application decided by Preston took 51 days from submission to decision — 5 days inside the eight week target. That is measured across 598 decisions where the council published both dates.

51 days
Median decision 5 days inside the eight week target
46 of 343
UK rank down 5 places in a year
68%
Within eight weeks 89% within thirteen
95 days
Nine in ten decided by The wait to budget for

How Preston compares

Year to September 2026

Preston decides faster than the country as a whole: 5 days below the national median of 56 days. Nationally 55% of applications are decided within eight weeks; here it is 68%.

The average here is 55 days, longer than the median because a handful of applications take very much longer than the rest. For planning around, 95 days is the more useful number: nine applications in ten were decided inside it.

  1. Within eight weeks the statutory target 408 68%
  2. Eight to thirteen weeks the major development band 122 20%
  3. Over thirteen weeks commonly an agreed extension 68 11%

The last few years

Each row is a full twelve months of decisions, ending in the quarter shown

Rolling twelve month windows overlap by nine months, so this reads as a trend rather than as four separate quarters. Only windows our records reach far enough back to measure in full are listed.

Preston: median days from application to decision, by rolling twelve month window. Source: PlanIndex, planindex.co.uk.
Twelve months to Median days UK rank
September 2026 51 46 of 343
June 2026 51 62 of 328
March 2026 49 56 of 243
December 2025 49 93 of 236
September 2025 42 41 of 324

Against the same twelve months a year earlier, when the median was 42 days, Preston has moved down 5 places in the table.

By type of application

Year to September 2026 · types with at least ten decisions

The headline median mixes every kind of application together. A householder extension and an outline application for a housing site are not the same job, and the difference between them is usually larger than the difference between two councils.

  1. Other 21 decided 25 days
  2. Amendments 57 decided 34 days
  3. Prior approval 32 decided 39 days
  4. Trees 43 decided 41 days
  5. Advertising 27 decided 43 days
  6. Lawful development 46 decided 45 days
  7. Conditions 86 decided 53 days
  8. Telecoms 20 decided 53 days
  9. Full applications 229 decided 55 days
  10. Heritage and listed buildings 20 decided 57 days

How these types compare nationally

What Preston decides

Year to September 2026

Preston issued 598 decisions in the year to September 2026. Of the clear-cut outcomes, 93% were approvals: 465 granted against 35 refused. Split decisions, withdrawals and other outcomes sit outside that percentage rather than being counted as either.

Speed and approval rate are separate things. A council that refuses quickly is not doing the same job as one that negotiates an approval slowly, and neither figure alone says which served the applicant better.

Common questions

How long does a planning decision take in Preston?

The median planning application decided by Preston in the year to September 2026 took 51 days from submission to decision, 5 days inside the eight week target. That is measured across 598 decisions where the council published both a start date and a decision date. It ranks 46 of 343 UK councils on decision speed.

Does Preston meet the eight week target?

68% of the 598 decisions Preston made in the year to September 2026 came within eight weeks of the application being received, and 89% within thirteen weeks. Nine in ten were decided within 95 days. Councils can agree an extension of time with an applicant, so a decision past eight weeks is not necessarily a missed deadline.

Is Preston faster or slower than average?

Preston is faster than average: its median of 51 days is 5 days below the national median of 56 days.

Is Preston getting faster or slower?

Against the same twelve month window a year earlier, when its median was 42 days, Preston has moved down 5 places in the table. Its median has risen by 9 days.

What proportion of applications does Preston approve?

93% of the clear-cut outcomes Preston issued in the year to September 2026 were approvals: 465 granted against 35 refused. Split decisions, withdrawals and other outcomes are excluded from that percentage.

Cite these figures

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Preston planning decision times, year to September 2026: median 51 days from application to decision (5 days inside the eight week target), across 598 decisions with both dates published. 68% were decided within the eight week statutory target, 89% within thirteen weeks; nine in ten within 95 days. Ranked 46 of 343 UK councils on decision speed (national median 56 days). 93% of clear-cut outcomes were approvals. Source: PlanIndex, planindex.co.uk.